Firmware transition

Introduction

This document describes the process of transitioning from Dasharo UEFI to Heads and the other way around.

Switching from Dasharo UEFI to Heads

To change firmware branches from UEFI to Heads, because of how different the two firmware types are, it's required to disable some security measures before flashing. Follow the steps below to install Heads from an existing Dasharo UEFI firmware installation:

• Hold down the F2 key and press the Power button to enter the UEFI Setup Menu
• Enter the Device Manager submenu and disable Secure Boot
• Enter the Dasharo System Features submenu
• In the Dasharo Security Options submenu, disable:
  • SMM BIOS Write Protection
  • BIOS boot medium lock
• In the Intel Management Engine Options submenu disable the Management Engine

Tip

For a more detailed guide on the UEFI Setup Menu options, check out the Dasharo menu documentation.

• Boot into Dasharo Tools Suite
• Enter your DES subscription credentials
• Select Update Dasharo firmware to check for updates
• When asked to switch to Heads firmware, press Y
• Proceed with DTS firmware update as usual

When the update is finished, your laptop will shut down automatically. Power it back on to boot into your new Heads installation!

TOTP secrets warning

On the first boot, you will be shown a warning about TOTP secrets. This is normal and expected on the first boot. Run OEM Factory Reset / Re-Ownership to finish deploying Heads.

Check out Heads documentation for a detailed factory reset guide.

Note for Qubes OS users

After installing Qubes while Heads is installed, you will need to select Reset TPM in the Heads menu to finish the installation.

From the main menu, enter Options -> TPM/TOTP/HOTP Options and select Reset the TPM.

Users upgrading to Heads while Qubes is already installed are not affected.

Switching from Dasharo Heads back to UEFI

To revert back to UEFI, you will need to boot into DTS from a USB stick.

• Follow the Dasharo Tools Suite documentation to boot DTS from a USB stick
• In the DTS main menu, select Update Dasharo firmware to check for available updates.
• When prompted to revert back to UEFI, press Y
• Proceed with DTS firmware update as usual

Once finished, your laptop will shut down automatically. Power it back on to boot into your UEFI firmware.

When reverting to UEFI, it's not possible to restore EFI boot manager entries that were added before installing Heads. Therefore, you may need to re-create your boot entries manually, or find your boot loader using Boot From File option in the UEFI setup menu.